

\ 





S OF US 

BY 

DOROThlY 
OVIGLeV 




LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Chap...:.... (\)pyriii:ht No. 

Sholt'..._i.Q_^ 

UNITED STATES OF AAIERICA. 



I am indebted to the editors of the New York 
Sun and New York yournal for kindly allowing 
me to include in this book articles which I con- 
tributed to their respective papers. 



U'Q-O.C^H'O 



PREFACE. 



DID you ever observe, dear 
comrade, what an element 
of caricature lurks in clothes ? A 





short, round coat on a stout man 
seems to exaggerate his propor- 
tions to such a ridiculous degree 



VI PREFACE 

that the profile of his manly form 
suggests '' the robust bulge of an 
old jug." 

A bonnet decorated with loops 
of ribbon and sprays of grass, or 
flowers that fall aslant, may give a 
laughably tipsy air to the long 
face of a saintly matron of pious 
and conservative habits. 

A peaked hat and tight-fitting, 
long-skirted coat may so magnify 
the meagre physical endowments 
of a tall, slender girl that she at- 
tains the lank and longish look 
of a bottle of hock. 

Oh ! the mocking diablery in 
strings, wisps of untidy hair, queer 
trimmings, and limp hats. Alas ! 
that they should have such imp- 



PREFACE 



Vll 



ish power to detract from the 
dignity of woman and render man 
absurd. 





Because of his comical attire, an 
eminent Oxford divine, whose Hfe 
and works commanded reverence, 
was once mistaken for an ancient 



vm 



PREFACE 



-52^ 



New England spinster in emanci- 
pated garments. His smoothly 
shaven face, framed in crinkly, 
gray locks, was surmounted by a 
soft, little, round hat, from the up- 
turned brim of which dangled a 
broken string. His long frock- 
coat reached to just above his 
loosely fitting gaiters. 

The fluttering string, whose only 
reason for being at all was to keep 
the queer head-gear from sailing 
away on the wind, gave a touch of 
the ludicrous to the boyish hat 
which, in its turn, lent more drol- 
lery than dignity to the sanctified 
face of the old theologian. Who 
has not seen just such, or a simi- 
lar siorht, and lauofhed ? Who has 



PREFACE IX 

not, with the generosity common 
to us all, concluded these were 
the mistakes and self-delusions of 
neighbors, relatives, and friends, 
in which we had no share ? 

I understand how it is with you. 
I am one of you. Before I studied 
our common errors I smiled at 
my neighbor's lack of taste, re- 
constructed my friends, and cast 
contemptuous criticism upon my 
enemies. One day I took a look 
at myself, and realized that ** I, 
too, am laughable on unsuspected 
occasions." 

The humbling knowledge of see- 
ing myself objectively, gave me 
courage to speak to the heart of 
you certain home truths which 



X iPREFACfi 

concern us all, in homely language 
which we can all understand. 

That you may discern the comi- 
cality and waggery in ill-chosen 
clothes, I have endeavored to hint 
to you in these talks some of the 
ways gew-gaws and garments make 
game of us. 

May you discover that your 
dress is not making you a laugh- 
able object ; but if, by any chance, 
you should note that your clothes 
are caricaturing you, take heart. 
Enjoy the joke with the mirth 
that heals and heartens, and speed- 
ily correct your mistakes. 

The lines of your form, the mod- 
elling of your face, are they not 
worthy of your discerning thought ? 



PREFACE XI 

Truly ! Whatever detracts from 
them detracts from sculpture, paint- 
ing, and poetry, and the world is 
the loser. 

A word to the thinking is suffi- 
cient. 

D. Q. 



CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Preface v 

CHAPTER I. 

How Women of Certain Types 
SHOULD Dress Their Hair . i 
Style for Wedge-Shaped Faces . 9 
Style for Heavy Jaws . . .10 
Style for Eyes Set Too High . 14 
Style for Eyes Set Too Low . .17 
Style for Long Faces with Long 

Noses ig 

For Faces with Protruding Noses 22 

CHAPTER II. 

Hints for the Selection of 
Becoming and Appropriate 
Styles in Head-gear . . 27 
The Magic of the Bonnet . . 29 
xiii 



XIV CONTENTS 



PAGE 



Style for Women with Broad Face 

and Heavy Chin . . -32 
Style for Women with Tapering 

Chin ...... 34 

Hat for the Chubby Woman . . ;^6 
For Women Who Have Sharp and 

Prominent Profiles . . -38 
For the Woman with an Angular 

Face ...... 42 

Women Who should Not Wear 

Horns . . . . .44 

CHAPTER III. 

Lines That should be Recognized 
AND Considered in Making 

Costumes 48 

Style for Tall Slender Woman . 50 
The Coat the Short Stout Woman 

should Wear . . . .52 
The Cloak or Cape for a Tall 

Woman . . . . -55 

CHAPTER IV. 

How Plump and Thin Backs 

SHOULD BE Clothed . . 62 



CONTENTS XV 

CHAPTER V. 

PAGE 

Corsages Appropriate for Women 

WITH UnBEAUTIFULLY MOD- 
ELLED Throats and Shoulders 85 

CHAPTER VI. 

Hints on Dress for Elderly 

Women 99 

CHAPTER Vn. 

How Men Caricature Themselves 

with Their Clothes . . 108 



•WSi 




WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US. 



CHAPTER I. 



HOW WOMEN OF CERTAIN TYPES 
SHOULD DRESS THEIR HAIR. 

THE pleasing, but somewhat 
audacious statement of the 
clever writer who asserted, ** In the 
merciful scheme of nature, there 
are no plain women," Is not as dis- 
putable as It may seem. Honest 
husbands, to be sure, greet the 



2 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

information with dissenting guf- 
faws ; gay deceivers reflect upon 
its truth by gallantly assenting to 
it, with a mocking little twinkle in 
their eyes ; and pretty women, upon 
hearing it, remark sententiously : 
** Blind men and fools may think 
so." Discerning students of wo- 
mankind, however, know that if 
every woman would make the best 
of her possibilities, physically, men- 
tally, and spiritually, it would be 
delightfully probable that *' in the 
merciful scheme of nature" there 
need be no plain women. 

Have we not Lord Chesterfield's 
word for it, that *' No woman is 
ugly when she is dressed " ? 

It is no unworthy study to learn 



DRESSING THE HAIR 3 

to make the best of, and to do jus- 
tice to, one's self. Apropos of this, 
to begin — where all fascinating 
subjects should begin — at the head, 
it behooves every woman who 
wishes to appear at her best, to 
study the modelling of her face 
that she may understand both its 
defective and perfect lines. By a 
proper arrangement of her hair a 
woman can do much to obscure or 
soften her bad features, and height- 
en the charm of her good ones. 

Romancers have written, and 
poets have sung, of the bewitch- 
ment in nut-brown locks, golden 
tresses, and jetty curls. Every 
woman, if so inclined, may prove 
for herself the transfiguring effect 



4 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

in a becoming coiffure. In fact, 
the beauty of a woman's face and 
her apparent age are greatly af- 
fected by the way she wears her hair. 
A most important detail that too 
few consider, Is, the proper direc- 
tion in which to comb the hair. 
Women literally toss their tresses 
together without any attention to 
the natural inclination of the indi- 
vidual strands or fibres. They 
comb their hair ** against the grain." 
Those who do so never have beau- 
tifully and smoothly arranged coif- 
fures. Each little hirsute filament 
has a rebellious tendency to go 
in the direction nature intended it 
should, and refuses to *' stay where 
it is put," giving the head in con- 



DRESSING THE HAIR 5 

sequence, an unkempt and what is 
termed an ''unladylike" appearance. 
The criss-cross effect resulting from 
combing and arranging the hair 




NO. 2 



contrary to ** the grain " is con- 
spicuously apparent in the coiffure 
of no less a personage than Elea- 
nora Duse, who, as may be seen 



6 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

from the picture, pays little atten- 
tion to the natural tendency of the 
dark tresses that cover her shapely 
head. The bang has the di- 
shevelled appearance of a pile of 
jack-straws. The side-locks instead 
of being combed or brushed to fol- 
low the contour of the head, fall 
loosely and fly in opposite direc- 
tions. 

The difference in appearance be- 
tween the women of the smart sets 
in America and those of less fash- 
ionable circles is due, in a great 
measure, to the beautifully dressed 
coiffures of the former. A hair- 
dresser arranges, at least once a 
week, the hair of the modish woman 
if her maid does not understand the 



DRESSING THE HAIR 7 

art of hair-dressing. Many women 
of the wealthy world have their 
maids taught by a French coiffeur. 
A wise woman will adopt a pre- 
vailing mode with discretion, for 
what may be essentially appropriate 
for one, may be fatally inappropri- 
ate for another. In adjusting her 
*' crown of glory " a woman must 
consider the proportions of her face. 
She should be able to discern 
whether her eyes are too near the 
top of her head or, too far below ; 
whether she has a square or wedge- 
shaped chin ; a lean, long face, or a 
round and bountifully curved one. 
She should be alert to her defects 
and study never to emphasize nor 
exaggerate them. 



8 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

Why, through stupidity or care- 
lessness, make a cartoon of yourself, 
when with a proper appreciation of 
your possibilities you can be a pleas- 
ing picture ? It is just as glorious 
to be a fine picture or a poem as it 
is to paint the one, or write the 
other. Indeed, a woman who har- 
moniously develops the best within 
her has the charm of an exquisite 
poem and inspires poets to sing ; 
and if by the grace and beauty of 
her dress she enhances her natural 
endowments and makes herself a 
pleasing picture, the world becomes 
her debtor. 

In the important matter of be- 
comingly arranging the hair, the 
following sketches and suggestions 



DRESSING THE HAIR 9 

may hint to bright, thinking, women 
what styles to choose or avoid. 

For Wedge-Shaped Faces. 

The least-discerning eye can see 
that the wedge-shaped face No. 3 
is caricatured, 




NO. 3 



NO. 4 



and its triangular proportions made 
more evident, by allowing the hair 
to extend in curls or a fluffy bang 
on either side of the the head. 
Women with delicately modelled 
faces with peaked chins should 



lO WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

avoid these broad effects above 
their brows. 

It is obvious in the sketch No. 4, 
that the wedge-shaped face is per- 
ceptibly improved by wearing the 
hair in soft waves, or curls closely 
confined to the head and by arrang- 
ing a coil or high puff just above 
and in front of the crown. This 
arrangement gives a desirable oval 
effect to the face, the sharp promi- 
nence of the chin being counter- 
acted by the surmounting puffs. 

For Heavy Jaws. 

It may readily be seen that a 
woman with the square, heavy- 
jawed face pictured by No. 5, 
should not adopt a straight, or 



DRESSING THE HAIR II 

nearly straight, bang, nor wear her 
hair low on her forehead, nor ad- 
just the greater portion of her hair 
so that the coil cannot be seen 
above the crown of her head. The 
low bang brings into striking relief 
all the hard lines of her face and 
gives the impression that she has 
pugilistic tendencies. 

To insure artistic balance to her 
countenance, and bring out the 
womanly strength and vital power 
of her face, her hair should be ar- 
ranged in coils, puffs, or braids that 
will give breadth to the top of her 
head as shown by No. 6. A fluffy, 
softly curled bang adds grace to 
the forehead and gives it the nec- 
essary broadness it needs to lessen 




NO. 5 



12 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 







NO. 6 



and llofhten the heaviness of the 
lower part of the face. A bow of 
ribbon, or an aigrette of feathers, 
will add effectively the crown of 
braids or puffs which a wise woman 
with a square jaw will surmount 
her brow if she wishes to subdue 
the too aggressive, fighting quali- 
ties of her strong chin. 

For Short Faces. 

The sisterhood who have short, 
chubby faces should, in a measure, 
observe certain rules that apply in 
a small degree to those who have 
heavy chins. 

As may be observed even with a 
casual glance, the little short-faced 
woman depicted by No. 7, causes 



DRESSING THE HAIR 



13 



her round facial disk to appear 
much shorter than it really is by- 
allowing her hair to come so far 
down on her forehead. She fur- 
ther detracts from her facial 
charms by wearing ** water-waves." 
Water-waves are scarcely to be 
commended for any type of face, 
and they are especially unbecoming 
to the woman who is conspicuously 
"roly-poly." The round eyes, 
knobby nose, and round mouth are 
brought into unattractive distinct- 
ness by being re-duplicated in the 
circular effects of the hair. This 
mode of dressing the hair makes a 
short face look common and insig- 
nificant. 

Do you not see that this type is 




NO. 7 




NO. 8 



14 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

immensely improved by the ar- 
rangement of the coiffure in No. 
8 ? By combing her hair off her 
forehead her face acquires a look 
of alertness and intelligence, be- 
sides being apparently lengthened. 
She can wear her bang in soft 
crimps brushed back from her 
brow, if this plam arrangement is 
too severe. 

For Eyes Set Too High. 

A low forehead is supposed to 
be a sign of beauty in woman. 
The brows of the famous Venuses 
are low and broad. Perhaps for 
this reason many women wear their 
hair arranged low upon their fore- 
heads. Whether the hair should 



DRESSING THE HAIR 1 5 

be worn low on the brow depends 
chiefly on two things, — ''the setting 
of the eyes, and the quality of the 
face." 

A good rule to observe Is the 
artistic one, to the effect that *' the c 
eyes of a woman should be in the 
middle of her head." That is, if 
an imaginary line Were drawn across 
the top of the head and another 
below the chin, exactly midway 
between the two the eyes should 
be set. 

The Japanese type of woman 
should carefully observe the fore- 
going hint. 

Observe No. 8^. Nature has not 
been artistic. The eyes are too 
near the top of the head. The 




NO. 8^. 



1 6 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 




rr^-. 



NO. 9 



defect is exaggerated and empha- 
sized by the wearing of the hair 
low on the forehead. In some 
faces of this type the face is brutal- 
ized in appearance by this arrange- 
ment. The expression and whole 
quality of the countenance can be 
greatly improved by arranging th^ 
hair as shown by No. 9, which is 
the soft Pompadour style. The 
Duchess of Marlborough, formerly 
Consuelo Vanderbilt, frames her 
naive, winsome face, which is of 
the Japanese type, in a style some- 
what like this. Her dark hair 
forms an aureole above her brow, 
and brings into relief the dainty, 
oval form of her face. Even sim- 
ply brushing the hair off the fore- 



DRESSING THE HAIR 



17 



head without crimp or roll will 
improve the appearance of this 
type of face and give it a better 
artistic balance. 

For Eyes Set Too Low. 

Women whose eyes are set too 
far down in their faces should 
adopt a mode of arranging their 
hair exactly the opposite of those 
whose eyes are set too near the 
top of their heads. 

It is apparent that No. 10 exag- 
gerates the distance of her eyes 
from the crown of her head, and 
makes them appear to be set lower 
than they really are by building 
her hair high, and by brushing her 
bang back so severely from her 







NO. 10 



1 8 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 







NO. II 



brow. A bald forehead Is rarely 
becoming to any woman. A few 
stray curls or soft waves lend grace 
to even the most perfect of brows. 
By bringing the hair down over 
the forehead, as suggested in No. 
1 1, a woman with this type of face 
can easily improve her appearance. 
By this graceful arrangement her 
face loses the childish and some- 
times stupid expression that Is 
peculiar to the type, as may be dis- 
cerned In No. lo. When the hair 
is properly arranged this element 
of childlikeness lends a certain ap- 
pealing sweetness not unattractive 
even in the faces of matured ma- 
trons. By dressing the hair low 
so the coil does not appear above 



DRESSING THE HAIR 1 9 

the crown, as in No. 11, the eyes 
are apparently properly placed. 

For Long Faces with Long 
Noses. 

The woman who wears her silken 
tresses arranged on either side of 
her head, draped like curtains from 
a central parting, is to be envied if 
she can do it and yet look young 
and pretty. She is the Madonna 
type and seems to possess all the 
attributes of gentleness, modesty, 
and meekness, and angelic sweet- 
ness that are supposed to character- 
ize the distinctively feminine wo- 
man. This is the ideal style of 
coiffure much bepraised by man, 
because, according to a bright mod- 





NO. 13 



20 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

ern Amazon, ** it makes a woman 
look SO meek." 

The only type to which it is 
really becoming is the Italian. 
The type with matte complexion, 
soft eyes, finely chiselled nose, and 
delicately oval chin, look ideally 
sweet and feminine with the hair 
arranged a la Madonna. 

Long faces of the form pictured 
by No. 12 exaggerate the long- 
ness and leanness of their faces by 
wearing their locks like looped 
curtains. A Ions: nose with two 
long lines on either side of the 
cheek seems longer than it is, as 
the observer may discern three 
lines instead of only the nasal one, 
and the impression of longness is 



DRESSING THE HAIR 



21 



emphasized. Not only is the length 
of the countenance made more no- 
ticeable, but years and years are If^ '^\\ 
apparently added to the actual age. 

That No. 13, which shows a part, 
inof and soft waves that do not 
come below the ears, is to be pre- 
ferred by a woman whose features 
are of this character need hardly 
be explained. The improvement 
in looks is quite obvious. 

No. 14 is an example of a mis- 
guided woman of the pudgy type 
who, for some inexplicable reason, 
arranges her hair in the Madonna 
style. It is utterly unsuited to her 
face. U nless her ears are deformed 
this style of hirsute lambrequins 
should not be worn by a full, round- 




NOS. 14 AND 15. 




NO. 16 



2 2 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

faced woman. The arrangement 
sketched in No. 15 adds effectively 
to her appearance, not only mak- 
ing her look younger, but less in- 
ane. 

For Faces with Protruding Noses. 

Women with decidedly protrud- 
ing, or irregular, tip-tilted noses 
should be especially careful in ar- 
ranging their coiffures. 

Any woman who arranges her 
hair as in sketch No. 16 caricatures 
her facial defects by increasing the 
too protuberant lines of her nose. 
The distance from the end of her 
nose and the tip of the topmost 
knot of hair is too long for either 
beauty or intelligence. The shape 



DRESSING THE HAIR 



23 



of her head acquires idiotic pro- 
portions, and her nose is placed 
entirely '' out of drawing " and is 
obtrusively conspicuous when seen 
in profile. This type of woman is 
generally classified among the in- 
quisitive, bright, and energetic. 
She should aim to modify the un- 
happy angularity of her profile as 
well as to repress her gossipy tend- 
encies. The graduated coil of hair 
and waved coiffure, shown by No. 
1 7, are most felicitous in their effect 
on this type of face. 

No. 18 reveals an error in an op- 
posite direction. The snubbed- 
nose girl, by fixing her hair in a 
bun-like coil, gives the impression 
that her coifTure is held by invis- 





NO 



24 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 




NO. 19 



ible strings by her nose, which gets 
a more elevated look than it other- 
wise would have, because of the 
bad angle at which the coil is 
placed. 

No. 19, which is a picturesque 
variation of the popular coif, mani- 
festly improves this type of face, 
and makes the nose appear less 
obtrusive. 

A woman should carefully study 
the contour of her head from every 
side ; the modelling of her face ; 
the length and inclination of her 
nose ; the setting of her eyes ; and 
the breadth and form of her brow, 
and adopt a becoming coiffure that 
will give artistic balance to her 
face, and never absolutely change 



DRESSING THE HAIR 



25 



the style whatever the mode in 
hair-dressing may be. In Eng- 
land, the court hair- 
dresser years ago 
studied the character 
of the head and face 
of the Princess of 
Wales, and designed 
a coiffure for her 
which she has never 
varied until recently ; 
then she merely ar- 
ranged her fringe 

11 1 NO. 20 

lower down on her 
forehead than she has ever worn 
it before. The general style, how- 
ever, she preserves intact, and 
wears her hair, and has for many 
years, as is shown in the picture — 




26 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

No. 20. Her daughters, who have 
faces the same shape as hers, dress 
their coiffures similarly. In never 
changing the style of arranging 
her hair, the Princess of Wales 
owes in no small degree her ap- 
parent air of youthfulness. 

No Matter What the Pre- 
vailing Style these Rules may 
BE Practically Applied. 




CHAPTER II. 



HINTS FOR THE SELECTION OF 

BECOMING AND APPROPRIATE STYLES 

IN HEAD-GEAR. 

CLOSELY allied to the sub- 
ject of hair-dressing is that 
of head-gear. Indeed many of the 
hints regarding appropriate coif- 
fures for certain styles of faces are 
equally applicable to the selection 
of suitable hats and bonnets. 
The choosing of millinery Is the 

more momentous of the two, of 
27 



28 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

course, for I need scarcely remind 
you that Nature left us no choice 
in hair. No matter what its color 
or texture we desire to keep it and 
if we are wise we will make the 
best of it. 

In regard to hats we are person- 
ally responsible and our follies are 
upon our our own heads. 

The power of caricature being 
greater in hats than in hair-dress- 
ing, is it not fit that we should give 
careful and intelligent considera- 
tion to the selection of our millinery 
that the ugly lines in our other- 
wise beautiful faces may not be at 
the mercy of mocking bunches of 
ribbons, comically tilted straws, or 
floppy bits of lace ? 



HINTS FOR HEAD-GEAR 2() 

The Magic of The Bonnet. 
Once upon a time, I think that 
was the exact date, there was a 
man distinguished in a certain 
kingdom as the ugliest person in 
the realm. According to a blithe 
romancer, he was so distinctively 
unpleasing in form and feature 
that he challenged the attention of 
the king who, in whimsical mood, 
made him a royal retainer. The 
man so conspicuously lacking in 
beauty enjoyed his eminent posi- 
tion and privileges for some time. 
But even ugliness, if it attain dis- 
tinction, will excite envy in the 
low-minded. A former associate 
of the unbeautiful man in Invidious 
temper brought the news one day 



30 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

to the king, that there was an old 
woman in his domain that was 
ugHer than the lowly-born man 
who by kingly favor held so high 
a place. '' Bring her to the court. 
Judges shall be called to decide. 
If she is uglier she shall stay and 
he shall go," was the royal man- 
date. When the old woman ap- 
peared she was easily decided to 
be by far the uglier of the two. 
At the critical moment when the 
king was upon the eve of dis- 
missing the man from his ret- 
inue, a friend of the unfortunate 
shouted, " Put her bonnet on him ! " 
This was done, and lo ! a fearful 
change was wrought. By unani- 
mous acclamation he was declared 



HINTS FOR HEAD-GEAR 3 1 

to be ** the ugliest creature on 
earth." 

The old woman, true to the in- 
stincts of her sex, refused to wear 
her bonnet again. Like many of 
her sisters of modern times, she 
had not before discovered the pos- 
sibilities in a bonnet to enhance 
the beauty of the face or decrease 
its charms. 

If women could see themselves 
objectively, as did the old woman, 
they would keenly realize the neces- 
sity of considering the lines of hat 
or bonnet in relation to those of 
their faces, and would learn to 
obscure defects and bring into 
prominence their prettiest features. 

As there are a few rules to gov- 



32 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

ern what each type should select, 
every one of the fair sisterhood has 
_ an equal opportunity to improve 
'"^ her appearance by selecting in the 
l^^ W millinery line the distinctive adorn- 
ment suited to her individual style. 




NO. 22 



For Women with Broad Face and 
Heavy Chin. 

By a curious law of contrariety 
the woman with a broad, heavy 
chin seems to have an ungovern- 
able penchant for trig little round 
bonnets, or trim turbans with perky 
aigrettes, like that in sketch No. 22. 
By obeying this wilful preference 
she obscures whatever delicacy 
may be in the modelling of her 
features and brings into conspicu- 



HINTS FOR HEAD-GEAR 



33 



ous relief the ugliest lines of her 
face. Her chin is apparently in- 
creased in heaviness 
and the broadness of 
her face is made prom- 
inent. She could 
easily have restored 
the artistic balance 
to her facial lines by 
wearing a large hat, ^ 
rather heavily trim- 
med, as in No. 23, thus effectively 
modifying the strong curves of the 
chin and signally improving her 
appearance. If a woman's face is 
fairly proportioned, not too short 
for its breadth, and she can not 
afford plumes, this type of woman 
can still give a becoming balance 




NO. 23 



34 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 



to her face by adopting hats that 
are trimmed with flamboyant bows 
that flare horizontally across the 
hat, diverging from a central knot 
in the front. 

For the Woman with Tapering 
Chin. 

The woman who is the exact 
opposite of the type with the am- 
ple lower jaw, but 
whose chief disad- 
vantage lies in her 
broad, manly brow 
and tiny tapering 
chin, should avoid 
all horizontal trim- 
mings, bows or broad hat-brims. It 
is clear, in No. 24, that such trim- 




NO. 24 



HINTS FOR HEAD-GEAR 



35 



mings Increase the wedge-like ap- 
pearance of the face and give it 
the grotesque sugges- 
tion of an ordinary 
flower-pot in which 
grows a sickly plant. 
This type can per- 
ceptibly improve up- 
on nature by choos- 
ing the style of hat 
and neck-gear shown 
by No. 25. 

The crinkly ovals that form the 
brim of the hat, and the soft, grace- 
ful arrangement of the hair in front 
that decreases the too broad effect 
of the brow, and the full fluffy ruff 
snuggled up closely to the chin, pro- 
duce a pleasing transformation of 




NO. 25 



36 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 




NO. 26 



the meagre-looking original that to 
the uninitiated seems little short 
of magical. The broad, cravat- 
like bows, and the flaring ones 
known as ** incroyables," were be- 
neficently invented for women with 
wedge-like faces and throats that 
have lost the seductive curves of 
youth. 

Hat for the Chubby Woman. 

That amiable type of woman 
formed conspicuously upon the 
circular plan, often unconsciously 
impresses the fact of her fatal tend- 
ency to rotundity by repeating the 
roundness of her globular eyes, the 
disk-like appearance of her snub 
nose and the circle of her round 



HINTS FOR HEAD-GEAR 37 

mouth, and the fulness of her face 
by wearing a Httle, round hat in the 
style portrayed by No. 
26. 

The curls of her 
bang, the feathers in 
her hat, the high col- 
lar of her jacket make 
more significant the- 
fact that her lines are 
not artistic and that n°- ^7 

her face is unbeautifully round. 
She can enhance her charms and 
apparently decrease the too spheri- 
cal cut of her countenance by 
adopting the mode illustrated in 
No. 27. The angular bows on the 
hat, the geometric lines of the 
broad hat-brim, the precise cut of 





38 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

the lapels on the corsage, the neat 
throat-band and V-shaped vesture 
— all insinuate in a most engaging 
way a dignity and fine, high-bred 
poise totally obliterated by the cir- 
cular style of dress erroneously 
adopted by the misguided woman 
_ in No. 26. 

For Women Who Have Sharp and 
Prominent Profiles. 

In buying a hat many of the 
"unfair sex" — as the modern wag 
dubs the progressive sisters who 
wish to have all man's rights and 
privileges and keep their own be- 
sides — never seem to consider their 
heads but from a front point of 
view. In consequence, as sketch 



HINTS FOR HEAD-GEAR 



39 




NO. 29 



No 28 hints, a head seen from the 
side frequently appears, if not idi- 
otically, very inartistic- 
ally, proportioned. 

Occasionally a hat 
presents as comical an 
effect in a front as in 
a side view, as may be 
seen in No. 29. The 
wearer was an elderly woman with 
gray hair which hung down in a 
half-curled bang on either side of 
her thin face. Her hat which was 
simply ** dripping " with feathers 
suggested a fanciful letter ** T " 
and exaggerated the thinness of 
her face in a remarkably funny way. 
The feathers overhanging the brim 
increased the broadness of the hat, 



40 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 



and looked singularly waggish flut- 
tering against the spriggy-looking 
projections of gray hair. 
The rules for the wedge- 
shaped face, as may 
readily be discerned, 
apply here. 

Women who have 
sharp and prominently 
outlined profiles have 
a curious tendency to 
choose hats, the brims of which 
project too far forward in front, 
and turn up too abruptly and un- 
gracefully in the back. 

As shown in No. 30 the pro- 
truding brim gives the head and 
face the unattractive proportions 
of the capital letter ** F." The 




NOS. 30 AND 31 



HINTS FOR HEAD-GEAR 4I 

length of the nose is emphasized 
by the line of the hat-rim above it 
and it appears unduly obtrusive. 
The flat arrangement of the hair 
and the curve of the hat-brim in 
the back also exaggerate the obtru- 
sive qualities of the features. By 
choosing a hat somewhat similar to 
the one sketched in No. 31, the un- 
attractive sharpness of the profile 
is modified, and the alert, agree- 
able quality of the face, that was 
obscured by the shelf-like brim, 
becomes apparent The observer 
feels, if he does not voice it, that it 
is a progressive spirit advancing 
forward instead of an ungainly 
head-piece that looks like a curious 
trowel. 



42 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

For the Woman with an Angular 
Face. 
The woman with the angular 

features presented in No 32 should 
not wear a sailor-hat 
or any hat with a per- 
fectly straight rim. 

The sailor-hat or 
any style bordering on 
it should be selected 
with utmost discrimin- 
ation. This mode is 
unbecoming to a wo- 
man more than forty ; 
or, to one who through 

NOS. 32 AND 33 . - 

griet or worry prema- 
turely attains a look of age, or to 
one whose features are irregular. 
The straight brim across the face 




HINTS FOR HEAD-GEAR 43 

is very trying. It casts a shadow 
deepening the " old marks " and 
instead of being a frame to set off, 
it seems to cut off, the face at an 
inartistic angle. 

The woman with angular feat- 
ures, as may be seen by No. ^^, 
can wear with impunity, and always 
should wear, a hat the brim of 
which is waved, turned, twisted, or 
curved in graceful lines. The un- 
even brim of her hat makes an 
effective complement to the angu- 
larity of her chin, which is further 
softened by the feathery ruff that 
encircles her throat. The curves 
of the ostrich plumes, and the 
studied carelessness of the arrange- 
ment of her coiffure, subdue the 



44 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

angles of her face which are brought 
out in unbecoming prominence by 
the sailor-hat. 

Women Who should Not Wear 
Horns. 

The velvet horns on either side 
of a hat, the steeple-like central 
adornments that were once much 
in favor, and the Mercury wings 
that ornament the coiffure for even- 
ing dress, produce some startling, 
disagreeable, and amusing effects 
not altogether uninteresting to con- 
sider. 

Faces in which the eyes are set 
too near the forehead acquire a 
scared look by being surmounted 
by a bonnet upon which the trim- 



HINTS FOR HEAD-GEAR 45 

ming gravitates to a point In an 
arrangement not unsuggestlve of a 
reversed fan, horns, or a steeple. 

The most unpleaslng develop- 
ments result from the wearing of 
the horn-like trimmings either in 
velvet or jet. If the face above 
which they flare has less of the 
spiritual than the coarse propen- 
sities in it, the grotesque turns and 
twists in the head-gear emphasize 
the animality In the lines character- 
istic of low-bred tendencies, and the 
whole countenance is vulgarized. 
One face acquires the look of a fox, 
another of a certain type of dog, 
and so on. 

The most amusing exaggerations 
of distinctive facial lines are pro- 




46 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

duced by Mercury wings. The 
good-natured woman of the famil- 
iar type depicted in 
No. 34 brings every 
bovine attribute of 
her placid counten- 
ance into conspicuous 
relief by surmount- 
ing her face with the 

NO. 34 

wings of the fleet- 
footed god. The cow-like form and 
serenity of her features are made 
laughably obvious. 

Short, delicately - faced women 
can adorn their coiffures with Mer- 
cury wings with most charming 
results. Wings, or perpendicular 
bows, add length to the lines of the 
short face, giving it a certain sug- 



HINTS FOR HEAD-GEAR 47 

gestion of refinement and distinc- 
tion that is wholly destroyed by 
the wearing of any trimmings that 
show at the sides. 

NO MATTER WHAT THE PREVAIL- 
ING STYLE THESE RULES MAY BE 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 




CHAPTER III. 



LINES THAT SHOULD BE RECOGNIZED 

AND CONSIDERED IN MAKING 

COSTUMES. 

MME. La Mode, much misrep- 
resented as are all who are 
embarrassed with world-wide popu- 
larity, always considers when de- 
signing fashions that women vary 
In form, as in mood. She suits all 
needs, although this fact has never 
been cast to her credit. With a 

beautiful sense of adjustment — as 

48 



MAKING COSTUMES 49 

obvious as that in Nature, that pro- 
jects the huge watermelon to ripen 
on a slender vine on the ground and 
swings a greengage plum on the 
stout stem of a tree to mature in 
storm or shine — Mme. La Mode, ar- 
biter of styles, balances her fashions. 

Never came the big hat without 
the small bonnet. Accompanying 
the long cloak is the never-failing 
short cape. Side by side may be 
found the long coat and the short, 
natty jacket. This equilibrium in 
wearing apparel may be traced 
through all the vagaries of fashion. 

Everybody's need has been con- 
sidered, but everybody has not 
considered her need. 

The short, stout woman passes 

4 



so WHAT DRESS MAlCES OF US 

by the long coat better adapted to 
her and seizes a short jacket— a 
homeopathic tendency of Hke suit- 
ing Hke, sometimes efficacious in 
medicine, but fatal In style. 

Style for Tall Slender Woman. 

The very tall, slender woman fre- 
quently ignores a jaunty jacket and 
takes a long coat like that shown 
in No. 36. 

To even the sluggish fancy of an 
unimaginative observer she sug- 
gests a champagne bottle, and to 
the ready wit she hints of no end of 
amusing possibilities for caricature. 

The very tall woman should 
know that long lines from shoulder 
to foot give height, and she must 



MAKING COSTUMES 



SI 



discerningly strive to avoid length 
of line in her garments until she 
dons the raiment of the angels. 




NOS. 36 AND 37 



Horizontal lines crossing the fig- 
ure seem to decrease height, and 
should be used as much as possible 
in the arranging and trimming of 
the tall woman's garments. 



52 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

By selecting a shorter coat equal- 
ly modish, as shown by No. 37, the 
too tall woman shortens her figure 
perceptibly. 

The belt cuts off from her height 
in a felicitous way, and the collar, 
also horizontal, materially improves 
the size of her throat. The high 
collar, such as finishes the coat, in 
No. 36, adds to the length. Those 
who have too long arms can use 
horizontal bands on sleeves most 
advantageously. 

The Coat the Short Stout Woman 
should Wear. 

The short jacket that so gracious- 
ly improved the appearance of the 
slender specimen of femininity is 



MAKING COSTUMES 



53 



sinister in its effect on the short, 
stout woman, in sketch No. 38. It 
should be the study 
of her Hfe to avoid 
horizontal lines. 
Length of limb is 
to be desired be- 
cause it adds dis- 
tinction. Her belt, 
the horizontal ef- 
fect of the skirt of 
the jacket, the hori- ^°^" ^^ '''''' ^^ 

zontal trimming of the bottom of 
the skirt, all apparently shortening 
her height, tend to make her ordin- 
ary and commonplace in appear- 
ance. 

If her hips are not too pro- 
nounced she can wear the long 




54 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

coat, shown in picture No. 39. 
The V-shaped vesture gives her a 
longer waist, and the long lines of 
the revers add to the length of her 
skirt. If her hips are too promi- 
nent, she should avoid having any 
tight-fitting garments that bring the 
fact into relief. She should not 
wear the long coat, but she can ef- 
fectively modify it to suit her needs, 
by only having a skirt, or tabs, or 
finishing straps in the back. If her 
jacket or basque Is finished off with 
a skirt effect, it Is best to have the 
little skirt swerve away just at the 
hip-line, half revealing and half con- 
cealing it. 

The front should be made In a 
jacket effect, finishing just at the 



MAKING COSTUMES 55 

walst-llne and opening over a blouse 
front that will conceal the waist- 
line. It is best for the too short, 
stout woman to obscure her waist- 
line as much as possible, to appar- 
ently give her increase of height. 

To put the waist-line high up 
adds to length of limb, and, of 
course, is to be desired, but the 
fact that what is added below is 
taken from above the waist, should 
impel careful discrimination in the 
arrangement of this equatorial 
band. 

The Cloak or Cape for a Tall 
Woman. 

The long circular cloak is an- 
other graceful garment that can be 



56 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

worn with charming effect by the 
woman of classic height, but should 
never be in the ward- 
robe of a very tall wo- 
man except for use at 
the opera, when its ser- 
vice is chiefly required 
in the carriage, or when 
its wearer is sitting. It 
is so obvious, in sketch 
No. 40, that the vertical 
lines the folds of the 
^°- '^^ cloak naturally fall into 

give a steeple-like appearance to 
the tall woman it enfolds, that it is 
scarcely necessary to comment up- 
on it. 

That her judicious selection 
should have been the short cape, 




MAKING COSTUMES 57 

which comes, as all capes should, 
to be artistic, well below the 
elbows, is clearly illus- 
trated in picture No. 
41. The horizontal 
trimming very becom- 
ingly plays its part in 
the generally improv- 
ing effect. 

The one who can 
wear the long cloak 
in an unchallengeable 
manner is the short, ''°- ^^ 

stout woman, shown in sketch No. 
42. 

By wearing the short cape with 
circular, fluffy collarette, sketched 
in No. 43, she gives herself the 
look of a smothered, affrighted 




58 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

Cochin China chicken ; or, as an 
imaginative school-girl remarked 




NOS. 42 AND 43 



of her mother who wore a cape of 
similar style, " she looks as if her 
neck were encirled by bunches of 
asparagus." 

The military dignity she acquires 
by wearing the long cape is becom- 
ing to a degree, and gives her dis- 
tinction in form. 



MAKING COSTUMES 59 

By remembering that horizontal 
trimmings apparently decrease the 
height, and that vertical lines add 
to it, those who desire to appear 
at their best will use discernment 
in dividing their basques with 
yokes, or corsage mountings at the 
bust-line or frills at the hip-line. 

A flounce on the corsage at the 
bust-line, another at the hip-line, 
and yet another at the bottom of 
the shirt, increases the impression 
of bulkiness most aggressively and 
gives a barrel-like appearance to 
the form of a stout woman that is 
decidedly funny, as may be seen 
in sketch No. 44. 

A study of the lines of the form 
will not only aid one in adopting a 



6o WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 



more becoming style of dress, but 
will sharpen the artistic perceptions, 
thus adding to the joy of life. 





NO. 44 



** A beautiful form is better 
than a beautiful face " and should 
be clothed so that its lines may 
appear at their best, and not 
be exaggerated and caricatured. 
The figure is seen many more 
times than the face, and the de- 
fects of the former are more con- 
spicuous than those of the latter. 



MAKING COSTUMES 6 1 

Do not be unjust to your beau- 
tiful body, the temple of your soul ; 
above all, do not caricature it by 
selecting your clothes with indis- 
criminating taste. 

NO MATTER WHAT THE PREVAIL- 
ING MODE THESE RULES MAY BE 
PRACTICALLY APPLIED. 







CHAPTER IV. 



HOW PLUMP AND THIN BACKS SHOULD 
BE CLOTHED. 

SHE was from the middle-West, 
and despite the fact that she 
was married, and that twenty-one 
half-blown blush roses had en- 
wreathed her last birthday cake, she 
had the alert, quizzical brightness of 
a child who challenges everybody 
and everything that passes with the 
countersign — ** Why ? " She inves- 
tigated New York with unabashed 
62 



PLUMP AND THIN BACKS 6;^ 

interest, and, like many another 
superior provincial, she freely ex- 
pressed her likes and dislikes for 
its traditions, show-places, and peo- 
ple with a commanding and amus- 
ing audacity. 

Her objections were numerous. 
The chief one that made a deep 
impression upon her metropolitan 
friends was her disapproval of 
Sarah Bernhardt's acting. The 
middle-Westerner, instead of be- 
coming ecstatic in her admiration, 
and at a loss for adjectives at the 
appearance of the divine Sarah, 
merely perked at the great French 
artist for some time and then de- 
manded, querulously : ** What 's 
the matter with her ? Why does 



64 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

she play so much with her back to 
the audience ? I don't like it." 

It was a shock to the adorers of 
Sarah Bernhardt to hear her so 
irreverently criticised. They loy- 
ally united in her defence, and 
sought to squelch the revolter by 
loftily explaining that the actress 
turned her back so often to the 
audience because she had such a 
noble, generous nature and desired 
to give the other actors a chance. 
** She lets them take the centre of 
the stage, as they say in the pro- 
fession," remarked one of the party, 
who prided herself upon being 
versed in the argot of the theatre. 

** But she plays with her back to 
the audience when she is speaking 



PLUMP AND THIN BACKS 65 

and acting, and everybody else on 
the stage is still but herself," petu- 
lantly insisted the Western Philis- 
tine, showing no signs of defeat. 

The situation was not wholly 
agreeable. The worshippers of 
Sarah could say nothing more in 
justification of her turning her back 
on them, but, with true feminine 
logic, concluded, '' If Sarah Bern- 
hardt turns her back on the audi- 
ence it is right, and that is all there 
is to say." 

Just at this dramatic moment a 
voice from the adjoining row provi- 
dentially interposed. The voice 
belonged to a well-known exponent 
of physical culture, who was never 
so happy as when instructing the 



66 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

intellectually needy. She said : ** I 
will tell you why she plays with 
her back towards the audience 
more than any other actress upon 
the stage to-day." The middle- 
Westerner, no less impressed than 
her metropolitan friends, listened 
eagerly. 

The exponent of straight backs 
and high chests explained didactic- 
ally : '* The back is wonderfully 
expressive ; indeed it is full of vital 
expression. Bernhardt knows this 
better than any other actress be- 
cause she has studied statuary with 
the passion of a sculptor, and be- 
cause she understands that, not only 
the face, but the entire physical 
structure, is capable of expressing 



PLUMP AND THIN BACKS 67 

dramatic emotions. Strong feeling 
and action may be strikingly re- 
vealed by the back. Imprecations, 
denunciations, even prayers, seem 
to be charged with more force when 
an actress delivers them with her 
back turned, or half-turned to the 
audience. 

** Bernhardt's back expresses a 
storm of fury when she imprecates 
vengeance," said the voice of au- 
thority. ** Not only on the stage 
is the expression of the back dis- 
cernible, and a knowledge of its 
character valuable, but in every-day 
life in drawing-room and street. 
How many women consider their 
backs when they dress ? Look at 
the backs here deformed by laces 



68 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

and fallals," she went on contempt- 
uously. '' The majority of women 
never look below their chins and I 
believe not one in ten ever looks 
thoughtfully at her back," she said 
emphatically. 

The dramatic value of a well- 
poised, expressive back may only 
concern the thousands of young 
women who are aspiring to be a 
Sarah Bernhardt or a Rachel ; but 
a knowledge of what constitutes a 
properly and artistically clothed 
back should be of interest to all 
women in civilized countries. 

That there is much truth in the 
assertion that '' the majority of 
women never look below their 
chins, and not one in ten ever looks 



I'LUM)' ANIJ THIN HACKS 



69 



thourHitfiilly .'it licr back," cycry 
observer of woiii.inkind mi^ht 
tesU'fy. 

The open placket-hole and sag- 
^in^- waist-band, sketched in No. 
/|5, is an all too familiar sl^ht that 
advertises the fact that too few 
women take even a cursory look at 
tlieir backs, leathers and brothers 
wlu) wish to protect their woman- 
kind from adverse criticism fre- 
quently ^ive impromptu lectures 
uj><>u lliis very subject, as this 
slovenly arrangement of skirt and 
basque Is not only seen In Grand 
Street, Second Avenue, and equal- 
ly (mfashionable quarters, but in 
Jwftli Avenue where the, modish 
set are en dvidencc. If the dainty 




'*". ^ij 



JO WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 




NO. 46 



safety-pin displayed in No. 46, goes 
out of vogue, the time-honored 
custom of sewing hooks to the 
waist-band of the dress, is always in 
fashion. Indeed, many women pre- 
fer this way of connecting separate 
skirt and waist to using a conspicu- 
ous pin. This is almost too trivial 
a detail to discourse upon, but it is 
as true that details make dress as 
it is that " trifles make life " — and 
neither life nor dress is a trifle. 

The offence in No. 45 is more 
the result of untidiness than of 
a lack of artistic discrimination. 
Nos. 46-I- and 47, on the contrary, 
outrage the laws of art, and display 
ignorance of the value and beauty 
of lines. 



PLUMP AND THIN BACKS 



71 



No. 46|- might serve to conceal 
a deformity of the shoulders. That 
really seems its only ex- 
cuse for being. The 
full, ugly, straight pleat 
that falls to just below 
the waist-line lends 
neither grace nor style V^' 
to the figure. It is too 
short to give the dis- 
tinction and dignity that 
handsome wraps with 
long lines almost invari- 
ably do, although they seem to add 
age to the form. There is a hint 
of youth in this ungraceful jacket 
to be sure, but it is not especially 
attractive in its suggestion of youth- 
fulness. 




NO. 46J 



72 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 



No. 47, with a line at the neck- 
band, crossed bands in the centre 
of the shoulders, and 
lines across the back, 
is obviously inartistic. 
The back of a Venus, 
even, would be detract- 
ed from by such criss- 
crossed effects. Happy 
the woman who has so 
shapely a back she can 
afford to allow her waist to fit 
smoothly and plainly, unbroken by 
any conspicuous lines. If bands 
must be used to remedy the de- 
ficiencies of ungenerous Nature, 
let them be at the neck and waist ; 
and if the back is unconscionably 
long, a band, or fold, or ruffle 




NO. 47 



PLUMP AND THIN BACKS 



n 



across the shoulders is to be com- 
mended. 

No. 48 reveals a glaring error 
frequently made by the thin sister- 
hood. A tall, slender woman with 
a long waist, should not emphasize 
her length of lines by wearing "^^ 
pointed or V-shaped effects. The 
V-shaped arrangement, either in 
cut or trimmings, apparently in- 
creases her *' longness and lean- 
ness." She should aim to shorten 
her waist instead of lengthening it 
as the basque finished with a point 
obviously does. The drooping 
sleeves elongate her shoulder-lines, 
and bring into clearer relief her 
meagre proportions. She can eas- 
ily improve her appearance by 




NO. 48 



74 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 



adopting either style of gown por- 
trayed by Nos. 49, or 50. The 
broad belt at the waist- 
line in No. 49, and the 
flamboyant lace or braid- 
ed piece that adorns the 
shoulders, perceptibly 
adds to her breadth and 
decreases her length. 

No. 50 is a felicitous 
cut for a street dress for 
a slim sister. The jaunty 
bloused waist smartly 
conceals deficiencies in 
fine points. 

The tall, thin sister- 
hood should eschew 
pointed effects and 




NO. 49 




NO. 50 



Study to attain apparent breadth 




PLUMP AND THIN BACiCS 75 

by using trimmings arranged hori- 
zontally. Bands of velvet, braid in 
waved lines, ruffles, 
and not too deeply 
cut scallops, may be 
used effectively by ^^/^ 
the very slender, who ^^ 
sometimes appear as 
if they are ** without 
form and void," as the earth was 
*' in the beginning." 

No. 51 is an exposition of the 
mistake made by the sturdy sister- 
hood of stout and pendulous pro- 
portions. It is plain to be seen 
that the fluffy ruche at the throat- 
band, and the ruffle at the shoulder, 
and the spreading bow at the waist, 
and the trimmed sleeves, add bulk- 



76 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 



iness to a form already too gener- 
ously endowed with flabby rotund- 
ity. Corpulent women must forego 



-iir^. 





NO. 53 



NO. 53 



the swagger little basques or any 
sort of short, flounced effects below 
the waist-line. 

Nos. 52 and 53 are eminently 
adapted to the matron of ample 
dimensions. One observer of 
beauty-giving effects has not un- 



PLUMP AND THIN BACKS "]"] 

advisedly called the waist-line '' the 
danger-line." A stout sister, above 
all others, should not accentuate 
the waist-line. She should conceal 
it as much as possible. The coat 
back of No. 52 apparently length- 
ens the waist. 

The same effect is produced by 
the arrangement of ribbons in No. 
53, and by the long-pointed basque. 
V-shaped effects and long-pointed 
basques are as becoming to those 
burdened with flesh as they are 
unbecoming to tall, thin women. 

Long, graceful folds and draper- 
ies are admirable for the stout sis- 
terhood, who should avoid short 
sacques and tight-fitting garments 
that give the on-looker an uncom- 



78 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

fortable impression ; there is too 
much in a small space. Very light 
colors and thin textures that billow 
and float should be eschewed by 
the large, fleshy woman who wishes 
to give the impression that she 
possesses the lines of a finely mod- 
elled statue. She should avoid 
puff's and any suggestion of the 
pulpy and clumsy, and be careful 
not to sub-divide the body of her 
dress by plaits or braids laid on 
horizontally across or above the 
bust, or below the hips. Horizon- 
tal lines invariably decrease the 
height ; for that reason stout wo- 
men should not wear dresses cut 
square in the neck, but should ad- 
here to the graceful V- or heart- 



PLUMP AND THIN BACKS 79 



shaped cut which has a tendency 
to give length. 

The rotund woman with a short 





NO. 54 



NO. 55 



waist, sketched in No. 54, may im- 
prove her figure, as shown in No. 
55, by choosing behs and collars 
the exact shade of her shirt-waists 
in summer, and by not cutting off 
her height by any sort of outside 
belt on winter gowns. 

Tall, stout women should forego 



8o WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

high heels on their shoes, high hats, 
and Striped dresses. Although 
stripes increase the effect of height, 




NO. 56 



they also add to that of breadth. 
A plain cloth basque and skirt of 
striped material make a happy- 
compromise and can be worn with 
becoming effect by a stout woman. 



PLUMP AND THIN BACKS 8 1 

A basque cut high behind and on 
the shoulders apparently gives 
height. 

A very stout woman should never 
wear double skirts or tunics or 
dresses with large sprawling pat- 
terns, such as depicted by cut No. 
56, which suggests furniture stuffs. 
A large woman who had a fancy 
for wearing rich brocades figured 
with immense floral designs was 
familiarly called by her kind friends 
** the escaped sofa." 

White, or very light colors, should 
never be worn by the stout ; they 
greatly increase the apparent size. 
Large plaids should also be es- 
chewed. Small checks and plaids 
may sometimes be becoming. 

6 



82 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

Neither the too thin nor the too 
stout should adopt a style of gown 
that caricatures the form as does 




NOS. 57 AND 58 



the voluminous wrapper, finished 
with a box-pleat, as shown in No. 
57. There is no grace in straight 
lines. No. 58, which accentuates 



PLUMP AND THIN BACKS 83 

the height of the over-tall, thin 
woman, is better adapted to en- 
hance the charms of a woman of 
finer proportions. The bony and 
scrawny, of the type of No. 58, seem 
to have a perverse desire to wear 
what makes their poverty in physi- 
cal charms only more conspicuous. 
A woman of distinction in Boston, 
who is exceedingly thin and tall, 
wore Watteau pleats so frequently, 
even on reception and evening 
gowns that she was dubbed by a 
wag "the fire-escape," a title which 
so strikingly characterized her style, 
that the term was adopted by all 
her friends when they exchanged 
confidences concerning her. 

The garment with the Watteau 



84 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 



pleat is not unlike the princesse 
gown which is a very trying style 
except to handsomely pro- 
portioned women. A tall, 
well-developed woman, 
such as shown in sketch 
No. 59, adorns the prin- 
cesse gown and attains in 
it a statuesque beauty. In 
suggesting statuary it ful- 
fils the true ideal of dress, 
which should hint of poe- 
, art, sculpture, painting. 
The massing of colors, 
the arrangement of 
lines, the quality of 
textures, the grace 
and poise of the wearer — do not 
these hint of picture, statue, music ? 




NO. 59 




CHAPTER V. 



CORSAGES APPROPRIATE FOR WOMEN 

WITH UNBEAUTIFULLY MODELLED 

THROATS AND SHOULDERS. 

DESPITE the traditional be- 
lief that a decollete corsage 
is a tyrannous necessity of evening 
dress, a woman not graciously en- 
dowed with a beautifully modelled 
throat and shoulders may, with per- 
fect propriety, conceal her infelici- 
tous lines from the derisive gaze 
of a critical public. 
85 



86 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

Women are Indebted to that gen- 
tle genius, La Duse, for the sug- 
gestion that a veiled throat and 
bust may charmingly fulfil the re- 
quirements of evening dress, and 
also satisfy that sense of delicacy 
peculiar to some women who have 
not inherited from their great-great- 
grandmothers the certain knowl- 
edge that a low-necked gown is 
absolutely decorous. 

The woman who does not pos- 
sess delicate personal charms com- 
mends herself to the beauty-loving 
by forbearing to expose her physi- 
cal deficiencies. Unless it is be- 
cause they are enslaved by custom, 
it is quite incomprehensible why 
some women will glaringly display 



CORSAGES 87 

gaunt proportions that signally 
lack the exquisite lines of firm and 
solid flesh. 

A throat like a ten-stringed 
instrument, surmounting square 
shoulders that end in knobs that 
obtrude above unfilled hollows, is 
an unpleasing vision that looms up 
conspicuously too often in opera- 
box and drawing-room. 

The unattractive exhibition of 
shoulders, pictured in No. 61, is a 
familiar sight in the social world. 
How insufferably ugly such uncov- 
ered anatomy appears in the scen- 
ery of a rich and dainty music- 
room may be readily imagined by 
those who have been spared the ' no. 61 
unpleasing display. It is so obvi- 




88 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 



ous that shoulders Hke these should 
always be covered that it seems 
superfluous to remark that this 
type should never wear any sleeve 
that falls below the shoulder-line. 
The sleeve falling 
off the shoulder was 
invented for the clas- 
sic contour, set forth 
in No. 62. Nor rib- 
bons, nor lace, nor 
jewel are needed to 
enhance the perfect 
beauty of a fine, slen- 
der, white throat, and 
the felicitous curves 
of sloping shoulders. 

One whose individual endow- 
ments are as meagre as are those 




NO. 63 



CORSAGES 89 

presented In No. 61 may Improve 
her defects by adopting either style 
of corsage, shown in sketches Nos. 
63 and 64. 

A woman's throat may lack a 
certain desirable roundness, and her 
shoulders may recede in awkward 
lines, and yet between these defect- 
ive features the curves may have 
a not unpleasing daintiness and 
delicacy in modelling that can be 
advantageously revealed. A mod- 
ish velvet throat-band, such as is 
shown by No. 63, is one of the 
most graceful conceits of fashion. 
The too slim throat encircled by 
velvet or ornamented with a jew- 
elled buckle or brooch is effectively 
framed. The unsightly lines of the 



90 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

shoulders are covered, and just 
enough individual robustness is 
disclosed to suggest with becoming 
propriety the conventional decol- 
lete corsage. The Princess of 




NO. 63 NO. 64 

Wales is as constant to her velvet 
or pearl neck-band, as to her espe- 
cial style of coiffure. Her throat, in 
evening dress, never appears un- 
adorned by one or the other of 



CORSAGES 91 

these beautiful bands that so clev- 
erly conceal defects and seem to 
bring out more richly the texture 
and coloring of handsome bare 
shoulders. 

Those who do not approve of 
the decollete style of dress, or whose 
ungraceful proportions might well 
be entirely concealed, can wear 
with appropriateness and benefit 
the corsage shown In No. 64. 
This has much in Its favor for a 
slender body. The upper part of 
the waist may be made of chiffon 
or crepe, which is beautifully — one 
might say benignly — translucent. 
It has an insinuating transparency 
that neither reveals nor conceals 
too much. The neck-band of velvet 



92 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

or satin, full and soft, apparently 
enlarges the throat. The sleeves 
may be In whatever style in cut 
prevails. This costume carries 
perfectly into effect the require- 
ments of evening dress, and may 
be worn with equal fitness to 
formal functions or to informal 
affairs. A coat -sleeve of lace, 
crepe, or chiffon, beflounced at 
the wrist, may be inserted under 
the short satin sleeves when the 
occasion does not require gloves. 
The soft, white setting of thin tex- 
tures around the throat and shoul- 
ders clears the complexion and 
brings into relief the pretty, delicate 
lines of a refined face. 

It is plain to be seen that the un- 



CORSAGES 



93 



attractive specimen of femininity, 
No. 65., with the long, wrinkled 
neck and sharp- 
ly lined face is 
unbecomingly cos- 
tumed in the V- 
shaped basque and 
corsage which ap- 
parently elongate 
her natural lank- 
ness. A charming 
and always fashionable yoke-effect 
that she can wear to advantage is 
shown by No. 66. This style of 
corsage is equally effective for a 
too thin or a too muscular neck. 
The filling is of tulle. 

A square-cut corsage is most 
becoming to the woman whose 




NOS. 65 AND 66 



94 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

narrow shoulders have a con- 
sumptive droop. The angular cut 
apparently heightens the shoulders 
and decreases their too steeple- 
like inclination. The round cut, 
if it frames a full throat, is also 
an effective style for sloping 
shoulders. The V-shaped cut is 
most becominor to the short-necked 
woman, whose aim should be to 
increase the lenoth of her throat. 

It is not only the too thin 
neck that needs to be clothed 
with discrimination. Throats and 
shoulders that are too robust are 
improved by being covered. The 
arms and shoulders, however, are 
often the chief beauty of a lieshy 
woman, and it is to her advanta^i^e 



CORSAGES 



95 



to give them as effective a setting 
as possible. 

As is obvious in No. 67, the 
stout woman apparently increases 




NO. 68 



NO. 67 



her breadth by wearing a flam- 
boyant corsage, and she hides the 
most exquisite lines of her arm with 
her sleeves. 

The princesse style of gown, in 
No. 68, gives her apparent length 



96 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 





NO. 70 



of waist. The modest lace flounce 
that falls in vertical folds decreases 
her formidable corsage. The knot- 
ted twist of silk reveals the full 
beauty of her arm. 

In dressing the throat there are 
a few rules to be remembered. A 
too long, stem-like neck may be 
apparently shortened by a stand- 
ing ruff or a full, soft band of 
velvet. The tight, plain band of 
velvet should never be worn by 
a woman with a very slim neck, 
as is plainly discernible in sketch 
No. 69. 

The plain, military collar empha- 
sizes the thinness of the slender 
woman's throat ; but the soft 
crushed fold of velvet apparently 



CORSAGES 



97 



enlarges the pipe-like proportions 
of the thin woman's neck, as may 
be seen in sketch No. 70. The 
tight-fitting collar should not be 
worn by the corpulent woman with 
a thick neck, as is shown by sketch 
No. 71. 

The thickness of the throat of 
the woman pictured in No. 72 may 
seem due to the folds of the velvet, 
which give a pleasing hint of a 
slender throat, a delusion not to be 
despised by the woman burdened 
with flesh. 

All the sisterhood, — stout, thin, 
long - throated, or short, — should 
know the hour when the withering 
touch of age begins to shrink the 
soft, round curves distinctive of the 



>^->'*% 




NO. 71 




NO. 72 



98 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

full, sweet throat of healthful youth. 
No regretful vanity should be al- 
lowed to glamour their eyes to the 
fact that Time has them by the 
throat, to put it melodramatically. 
The wise woman will not please 
herself with a fatal delusion. She 
will realize it is illusion she needs — 
yards of it — lace or velvet, or any 
beautifying texture that will con- 
ceal the deadly lines of age. 




CHAPTER VI. 

HINTS ON DRESS FOR ELDERLY 
WOMEN. 

F^RESS has much to do with a 
^^ youthful or aged appearance. 
Shawls and long mantles that fall 
from the shoulders give even youth- 
ful figures a look of age, because 
the lines are long and dignified 
and without especial grace. Beauti- 
ful wraps, or coats that do not 
come very far below the hip-line, 
can be worn becomingly by elderly 

99 



lOO WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

ladles, neither emphasizing their 
years nor making them appear too 
frivolously attired. There is a 
smack of truth in the maxim, As 
a woman grows old the dress mate- 
rial should increase in richness and 
decrease in brightness. Handsome 
brocades, soft, elegant silks, wool- 
len textures, and velvets are emi- 
nently suitable and becoming to 
women who are growing old. 

Black, and black-and-white, soft 
white chiffon veiled in lace, cash- 
meres, and such refined tissues 
should be selected by those in 
'' the first wrinkles of youth." 
Grays combined with filmy white 
material, dull bronzes lightened 
with cream -tinted lace, are also 



DRESS FOR ELDERLY WOMEN lOl 

charmingly appropriate. Pale blue 
veiled in chiffon is another grateful 
combination. 

White should be worn more than 
it is by old ladies. It is so sug- 
gestive of all that is clean, bright, 
and dainty ; and if there is anything 
an old lady should strive to be in 
her personal appearance it is dainty. 
Exquisite cleanliness is one of the 
most necessary attributes of at- 
tractive old age, and any texture 
that in its quality and color em- 
phasizes the idea of cleanliness 
should commend itself to those in 
their " advanced youth." 

Little old thin women, large 
ones too, for that matter, who are 
wrinkled and colorless, should not 



I02 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

wear diamonds. The dazzling 
white gems with pitiless brilliancy 
bring out the pasty look of the skin. 
The soft glow of pearls, the cloud- 
like effects of the opal, the unob- 
trusive lights of the moonstone 
harmonize with the tints of hair 
and skin of the aged. 

Elderly women should not wear 
bright flowers on their bonnets or 
hats. Fresh-looking roses above a 
face that has lost its first youthful- 
ness only make that fact more 
obvious. Forget-me-nots, mignon- 
ettes, certain pretty white flowers, 
the palest of pink roses, or the 
most delicate tint of yellow veiled 
with lace are not inappropriate 
for those who do not enjoy wear- 



DRESS FOR ELDERLY WOMEN I03 

Ing sombre bonnets and hats 
which are composed only of rich, 
black textures. Lace cleverly in- 
termingled with velvet and jewelled 
ornaments of dull, rich shades are 
exceedingly effective on the head- 
gear of the old. 

Those who are gray-haired — 
and indeed all women as they grow 
old — should wear red above their 
brows instead of under their chins. 
A glint of rich cardinal velvet, or a 
rosette of the same against gray 
hair is beautiful. 

Lace ! Lace ! Lace ! and still 
more lace for the old. Lace is an 
essential to the dress of a woman 
more than forty years of age. 
Jabots, ruches, yokes, cascades, 



I04 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

vests, and gowns of lace, black or 
white, are all for the old. Rich 
lace has an exquisitely softening 
effect on the complexion. Thin 
women with necks that look like 
the strings of a violin should 
swathe, smother, decorate, and 
adorn their throats with lace or 
gossamer fabrics that have the 
same quality as lace. These airy 
textures, in which light and shadow 
can so beautifully shift, subdue 
roughnesses of the skin and harsh- 
ness in lines. Old Dame Nature 
is the prime teacher of these be- 
witching artifices. Note her fine 
effects with mists and cobwebs, 
with lace-like moss on sturdy old 
oaks, the bloom on the peach and 



DRESS FOR ELDERLY WOMEN IO5 

the grape. Nature produces her 
most enchanting colorings with 
dust and age. Laces, gauzes, 
mulls, chiffons, net, and gossamer 
throw the same beautiful glamour 
over the face and they are fit and 
charming accompaniments of gray 
hair, which is a wonderful softener 
of defective complexions and hard 
facial lines. 

Too much cannot be written 
upon the proper arrangement in 
the neck-gear of the aged. The 
disfiofurinof wrinkles that make 
many necks unsightly may be kept 
in obeyance by massaging. No 
matter what the fashion in neck- 
gear, the aged must modify it to 
suit their needs. An old lady 



I06 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

with a thin, pipe-stem neck should 
adopt a full ruche and fluffy, soft 
collar-bands. I cannot forbear 
repeating that tulle as light as 
thistle bubbles, either white or gray 
or black, is exquisitely effective for 
thin, scrawny necks. The fleshy, 

red neck should be softened with 
powder and discreetly veiled in 
chemisettes of chiffon and delicate 
net. 

Old ladies may keep in the style, 
thus being in the picture of the 
hour ; but it is one of the divine 
privileges of age that it can make 
its own modes. Absolute cleanli- 
ness, cleanliness as exacting as that 
proper nurses prescribe for babies, 
is the first and most important fac- 



DRESS FOR ELDERLY WOMEN I07 

tor in making old age attractive. 
Rich dress, In artistic colors, soft, 
misty, esthetic, comes next ; then 
the IdeaHzIng scarfs, collars, jabots, 
and fichus of lace and tulles. Old 
people becomingly and artistically 
attired have the charm of rare old 
pictures. If they have soul-illum- 
ined faces they are precious mas- 
terpieces. 




CHAPTER VII. 

HOW MEN CARICATURE THEMSELVES 
WITH THEIR CLOTHES. 



ALTHOUGH In the dress of 
man there are fewer possibili- 
ties of caricature than in that of 
woman, yet, '' the masterpieces of 
creation " frequently exaggerate 
in a laughable — and sometimes a 
pitiable — way, certain physical 
characteristics by an injudicious 
choice of clothes. 

io8 



CARICATURES IO9 

As the fashion in hair-dressing 
does not grant man the privilege 
of enhancing his facial attractions ; 
nor of obscuring his defects by 
a becomingly arranged coiffure ; 
and, as the modes in neck-gear are 
such that he cannot modify the 
blemishes of a defective complex- 
ion by encircling his athletic or 
scrawny throat with airy tulle, or 
dainty lace, that arch-idealizer of 
pasty-looking faces ; and as he has 
forsworn soft, trailing garments 
that conceal unclassic curves and 
uninspiring lines of nether limbs, it 
behooves him to be more exact- 
ingly particular even than woman 
in the selection of his wearing ap- 
parel. 



no WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

Far be it from me, however, to 
remind man of his many limita- 
tions — in dress. That he can 
never know the rapture of donning 
a becoming spring bonnet, nor 
the pleasure of possessing ** real 
lace " things, nor the sensuous 
charm of being enwrapped in ca- 
ressing furs, or sleazy, silken gar- 
ments as exquisite in color and 
texture as beautiful, fresh flowers, 
only delicate consideration for his 
feelings constrains me from expa- 
tiating upon at length. 

I would rather be able to remind 
him that he can make his limita- 
tions his advantages, than reveal 
to him what he misses in not being 
a woman. 



CARICATURES 1 1 1 

To treat of this important sub- 
ject adequately and convincingly, 
one would require the masterly 
discernment of a skillful and accom- 
plished tailor, the experienced 
knowledge of a well-dressed man, 
and the alertly critical perception 
of a loving woman who, even in the 
matter of clothes, wishes the dear- 
est of men to her, to do full justice 
to himself and her ideal of him on 
all occasions. 

Although certain of the forego- 
ing qualifications must needs be 
lacking, nevertheless this timorous 
pen, with more trepidation than 
courage it must be confessed, begs 
to call attention to a few obvious 
details in masculine attire that car- 



112 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

icature, more or less, peculiarities 
in the forms and features of 
men. 

To be sure, in the matter of head- 
gear man is not conspicuously at 
the mercy of burlesquing ribbons, 
flowers, and feathers, and he has 
fewer opportunities than women 
to make himself ridiculous, yet a 
few suggestions regarding certain 
shapes of head-gear for certain 
types of faces, applicable to women 
are equally applicable to him. 

The same rule that applies to 
the woman of the wedge-shaped 
type of face applies to the man of 
the wedge-shaped type, as may be 
seen in sketches Nos. 75 and 76. 
It is obvious that the youth de- 




NO. 75 



CARICATURES II3 

picted in No. 75 detracts from the 
manliness of his face and empha- 
sizes the pointed appearance of his 
countenance by wearing a hat with 
a broad brim projecting over his 
ears. This style of hat appears 
more frequently in straw than in 
any other texture, but the effect of 
a wide, projecting rim is the same 
in any material. No. 76, it is plain, 
improves the appearance of the 
long, slim-faced man. An alpine 
hat would not be unbecoming to 
him, the h'lQ-h oval of the crown 
forming a balance for the lower ^^^^'■ 
part of the face. ''°- ^^ 

The man with a pugilistic chin 
should endeavor to select a hat 
that will not make his heavy jaw 




NO. 77 




NO. 78 



114 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

as prominent as does the stiff derby, 
in No. "]"]. 

A soft alpine hat, or one some- 
what of the style of No. "j^, improves 
his appearance. The high crown 
and wide, gracefully rolling brim 
counter-balance the weight and 
prominence of the jaw. 

Apropos of the minor details of 
man's garments, the button as a 
feature of clothes has never been 
fully done justice to. It is a sus- 
taining thing we know, something 
we can hang to, fasten to, and even 
tie to. That properly placed but- 
tons contribute to our mental poise 
and therefore to our physical re- 
pose, is hinted in that absurdly 
engaging story, anent the smart 



CARICATURES II5 

boy who was the envy of his spell- 
ing-class, because he always stood 
first. You remember, no doubt, 
that an envious but keen-eyed class- 
mate observed that the smart speller 
worked off his nervous apprehen- 
siveness by twirling the top button 
of his coat as he correctly spelled 
word after word, day in and day 
out ; and how the keen-eyed one 
played the part of a stealthy villain 
and surreptitiously cut the button 
off the coat. And do you remem- 
ber the dramatic ending? How 
the smart one on the fatal day 
sought to ''press the button" and 
finding it gone, lost his wits com- 
pletely and failed ignominously ? 
Many of us when we have lost a 



Il6 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 




NO. 79 



sustaining button, have we not felt 
as ridiculously helpless and wit- 
benumbed as the smart speller ? 

We all sub-consciously acknowl- 
edge our dependence upon but- 
tons, but not many of us, evidently, 
have observed that even buttons 
have a certain possibility of carica- 
ture in them ; and that they may 
add to, or detract from, the ap- 
pearance of manly forms. The 
consideration of properly placed 
buttons may seem trivial to you, 
but if you will observe sketches 
Nos. 79 and 80, you may discern 
that a thin man may apparently 
increase his breadth and add a cer- 
tain manly touch to his figure, by 
changing the buttons at the waist- 



CARICATURES llj 

line of his coat. The buttons 
placed so near together, in No. 79, 
really make his toothpick propor- 
tions too obvious. His back is 
made to look broader by placing 
the buttons wider apart, as shown 
in No. 80, and changing the cut 
of his coat-tail. 

That the fat man may also pre- 
sent a more attractive back to his 
enemies by considering the placing no. 80 
of his buttons, may be seen in 
drawings Nos. 81 and 82. The 
buttons decorating No. 81 are 
placed so far apart that they in- 
crease in an ungainly way the 
breadth of the back at the waist- 
line. If they are placed nearer 
together, and the seams graduated 




Il8 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 



to meet them, they give the illusion 
of better and more desirable pro- 
portions, as may be seen in No. 
82. 





NO. 81 



NO. 82 



That the thin man may also pre- 
sent a more imposing and broader 
front to the world, is suggested in 
sketches Nos. 83 and 84. The con- 
tracted look of the coat in No. 83 



CARICATURES 



119 



IS somewhat due to the buttons 
of his double-breasted coat being 
placed too closely together. The 





NO. 83 



NO. 84 



slender man who wishes to give 
the impression of being broad- 
chested may have the buttons on 
his coat placed a little farther 



I20 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

apart than fashion may allow, as 
Q shown in sketch 84. The propor- 
<^| tions may be easily preserved by a 
careful adjustment of the shoulder- 
seams and the seams under the 
arms. 

The waist-line is not so much 
"a danefer line " to man as to wo- 
man, yet man should not wholly 
ignore his equator. If he is long- 
waisted he can apparently balance 
his proportions by having his skirt 
shortened, as in No. 85, and his 
waist-line raised the merest bit. 
If he is too short-waisted he can 
lengthen his skirt and lower his 
waist-line, as shown in No. 86. In 
the one he escapes appearing too 
long and lanky in body, and in the 



NO. 85 



CARICATURES I 2 I 

Other he obscures a lack of becom- 
ing inches that tends to give him a 
dumpy appearance. 

If you study your fellow-men you rf^ 
will observe that few are really per- 
fectly proportioned. One man will 
have the body of a viking on the 
legs of a dwarf, or one will have 
the legs of an Apollo supporting 
the short body of a pigmy. The ^^^ gg 
man who has a kingly body, too 
broad in proportion to his legs, as 
shown in sketch No. 87, should en- 
deavor to modify his physical de- 
fect by the careful selection of his 
coats. He should have his coats 
cut to give him as much length of 
leg as possible. A skilful tailor 
will know just what subtle changes 




122 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 




and adjustments to make. The 
improvement in appearance and 
gain in height is pictured in sketch 
88. The coat being shorter and 
the waist of the trousers being 
raised a trifle, the man's limbs seem 
longer, which is an improvement. 
Long Hnes tend to give elegance 
and grace in bearing. Another 
thing for the too robust type of 
man to consider is the style of his 
trousers. No. Sy hints what he 
must not choose. Such brazen 
plaids only make him appear offen- 
sively aggressive in size. Long, 
fine lines, such as shown in No. 88, 
give an impression of length and 
apparently lessen the width. 

Too long lines, however, are 



CARICATURES 1 23 

almost as undesirable as too short 
ones. Over-tall, thin men some- 
times make themselves look like 
telegraph poles or flagstaffs by 
wearing short coats that expose in 
a graceless way the whole length 
of their limbs. They suggest cranes 
and other fowl that give the im- 
pression of being " all legs." 
When the legs are proportioned 
more like a stick of macaroni or 
a lead pencil than the shapely 
limbs of an Adonis, they appear ex- 
ceedingly funny when surmounted 
by a short coat, such as pictured in 
No. 89. A famous general in the 
Civil War did not despise cotton as 
a fortification to protect him from 
the onslaught of the enemy. The 




NO. 



124 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

over-tall, thin man, who is not un- 
suggestive of a picket, should not 
be ashamed to fortify himself with 
cotton or any other sort of padding 
that intelligent tailors keep in 
stock. He should build his shoul- 
ders up a bit and be generally, but 
most carefully and artistically, en- 
larged. His coat should be 
lengthened, as in sketch 90, to cut 
off just as much of the longness of 
limb as can possibly be allowed 
without destroying artistic pro- 
No. 89 portions. The very tall, thin man 
who unthinkingly wears a very 
short coat should be brave and 
never turn his back to his enemy. 
If he wears black and white check 
trousers and a short blue coat, he 




CARICATURES 1 25 

should travel with a screen. A 
man in just such a rig attracted no 
end of comment in a fashionable 
hotel. The caricaturing effect of 
his trousers and coat were unspeak- 
ably comical. The wearer had a 
face as grave as an undertaker's 
and the air of a serious-minded col- 
lege professor ; but he had the 
nondescript look of a scarecrow 
composed of whatever available 
garments could be obtained from 
the cast-off wardrobe of summer 
boarders in a farmhouse. 

Coats assuredly have the power 
of making cartoons — living, jocu- 
lar cartoons — of their wearers. It 
would hardly seem necessary to call 
attention to the fact that a man of 




126 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

huge dimensions should not wear 
a short coat, such as shown in 
sketch No. 91, yet his type is too 
frequently seen attired in this style. 
A man so dressed certainly seems 
the living exemplification of the 
definition of a jug, namely, "a 
vessel usually with a swelling belly, 
narrow mouth, and a handle, for 
holding liquors." It cannot be re- 
iterated too often that a large, stout 
man should aim to acquire the 
distinction and dignity given by 
long lines. If his body is pro- 
portioned so he really has neither 
length of torso nor of limb he must 
pay more attention to the cut of his 
clothes and attain length in what- 
ever artistic way he can. The 



CARICATURES 



127 




NOS. 91 AND 92 



long coat, as may be seen in sketch 
No. 92, not only apparently adds 
length but it con- 
ceals too protuberant 
curves. 

Of course, charac- 
ter counts for more 
than clothes, we will 
all agree to that, but 
at first glance it is a 
man's clothes that impress people. 
Clothes affect our behavior some- 
what. For instance, '' When the 
young European emigrant, after a 
summer's labor puts on for the first 
time a new coat, he puts on much 
more. His good and becoming 
clothes put him on thinking that he 
must behave like people who are 



128 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

SO dressed ; and silently and steadily 
his behavior mends." Of course, 
there is an uplifting truth in George 
Herbert's maxim, " This coat with 
my discretion will be brave," yet, I 
am inclined to think that the ma- 
jority of men who will stop to con- 
sider will agree with Emerson, who 
says, '' If a man has not firm nerves 
and has keen sensibility, it is per- 
haps a wise economy to go to a 
good shop and dress himself irre- 
proachably. He can then dismiss 
all care from his mind, and may 
easily find that performance an ad- 
dition of confidence, a fortification 
that turns the scale in social en- 
counters, and allows him to go 
gayly into conversations where else 



CARICATURES 1 29 

he had been dry and embarrassed. 
I am not ignorant, — I have heard 
with admiring submission the ex- 
perience of the lady who declared 
' that the sense of being perfectly 
well dressed gives a feeling of in- 
ward tranquillity which religion is 
powerless to bestow.' " 

A popular clothier in New York, 
understanding this trait of his fel- 
low-men, voices this same sentiment 
in his advertisement in this succinct 
way: ** Seriously now. Have you 
ever stopped to think that if you 
wear good clothing it adds much 
to that independent, easy feeling 
you should have when you come 
in contact with other men ? " 

I think it was Lord Chesterfield 



130 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 

who said : ** A man is received ac- 
cording to his appearance, and dis- 
missed according to his merits." 
There is a bit of truth in this we 
would all admit, I have no doubt, 
if we studied the question. Clothes 
affect our own poise, ease, and atti- 
tude toward others and the expres- 
sion of others toward us, but, after 
all, we rely upon the man or woman 
instead of upon the impression we 
receive from the clothes. The gar- 
ments, after we have noticed them 
in a superficial way, are chiefly 
interesting to us, because they are 
arch-betrayers of the physical and 
mental poise of the man. No mat- 
ter what the cut of the cloth, no 
matter what cachet of a fashionable 



CARICATURES 



131 



tailor a suit may have, or what 
its richness of material, the atti- 
tude *' a la decadence " of No. 93 
would make the best clothes in 
Christendom look shabby and un- 
attractive. 

This too familiar carriage of the 
American man makes one wish to 
have the power to reverse the faces 
— as Dante did those of the false 
prophets, so those who stand *' a la 
decadence " might see what ridicu- 
lous figures they cut in drawing- 
room and street. The curved backs 
and rounded-out shoulders would 
make fair-looking chests, and the 
flat chests would represent respect- 
able-looking backs. 

A man owes it to the spirit 




NO. 93 



132 WHAT DRESS MAKES OF US 




NO. 94 



within him not to stand or walk in 
such an attitude. He should brace 
up and keep bracing up persistently, 
unremittently, until he attains a 
more manly bearing. 

The wholly alive fellow pictured 
in sketch No. 94 would make 
homespun look elegant. His chest 
is forward. He does not sag in 
front at the waist, protruding his 
abdomen in not only an inartistic, 
but an unhealthy manner ; but he 
strides masterfully forward with an 
air of inspiriting '' aliveness." The 
perfect poise of his attitude is not 
unsuggestive of the Apollo Belve- 
dere — the model for all men — a 
picture of which every college boy 
should have to place beside the 



CARICATURES 133 

prettiest girl In his collection of 
pretty girls, to constantly remind 
him to carry himself like a young 
god. 



